public service announcement

Did you know that Starbucks sickeninglylightly sweetens their iced coffee and iced tea? And that if you don’t want it sweet you have to specifically order it as unsweetened? I didn’t know this until we were blocks away from the drive through window. We went through the line at the next Starbucks with a drive through, not too far away, and they replaced it no questions asked, which makes me think it wasn’t the first time they got this request. Still, though, yuck.

59 responses so far ↓

Did you get the iced coffee or the iced tea? I actually like the sweetened iced coffee; put some half and half in there and you have a treat like a frappuccino only at one half the cost. But I imagine it would be a pretty big surprise if you weren’t expecting it. I always ask for sweetened, specifically, and sometimes I get unsweetened anyway and that is a real shock!

Oh weird. Here in NYC they always say “sweetened or unsweetened” when you order iced coffee/tea so I guess that’s how I knew. I can see how getting the wrong drink would be super frustrating! But 2 starbucks drive throughs minutes away from each other? Thats just bragging!

Originally from the midwest, now in RI (where the Dunkin Donuts mimics the Starbucks concentration of Seattle), I was flabbergasted when I found out “regular” means 2-creams and 2-sugars in a small cup of coffee. As a PSA to those visiting the northeast, make sure to specify whatever you want or don’t want in your coffee when you’re in my neck of the woods

I was asked that very thing last week (in Seattle)…I was so caught off guard because why the heck would I want sweetening in my iced coffee that I didn’t answer right away. Didn’t realize it was standard procedure.

Growing up in New England, bleh, Dunkin Donuts is awful about their coffee orders. When I go back, I usually repeat “one cream, no sugar. NO SUGAR. NOOO SUUUUGAAARRRR.” and I still end up with a “light n’ sweet.” Do not recommend you ever order one of those at DD. The layer of sugar on the bottom is about an inch thick.

@michele — Your comment made me laugh, I grew up with “regular” coffee and miss it terribly now that I’m in southern CA. Somehow it’s not the same when I try to do it myself. :) But yes, for those of you who prefer unsweetened, you would definitely want to specify a “black” coffee at a place like Dunkin Donuts in the New England area.

I found that out the hard way a few years ago when I ordered an iced green tea. So now I always say “unsweetened” which I never thought I’d have to do again when I left the south! :) Their hot teas come unsweetened, which suits me just fine.

I noticed that they don’t do it at all of their locations. When I first started ordering iced coffee there, it was never automatically sweetened. Then I was in a different store than usual and noticed it was sweetened (without my asking for it). It’s not so great like that. I prefer to control the sugar aspect of my coffee myself.

Anyway, now I always ask because I’m not sure what I’ll end up getting.

That’s like at Dunkin Donuts, where unless you say unsweetened your coffee has a ton of sugar in it. Personally I think they should never serve it sweet and let people put in their own sweeteners… Too bad you
didn’t notice til after you’d left.
Personally I prefer Peet’s… Unsweetened and good and strong!

one thing i’ve always liked about starbucks is their unfailing niceness about taking drinks back. you can just hand them the cup back and say that it was 3.1degrees fahrenheit too warm and the barista smiles and just makes it again for you. and at dunkin, it’s not their regular that has cream and sugar, it’s a “regulah.”

I work for Starbucks and get really frustrated about the whole sweetened/unsweetened thing. The recipe calls for us to add Classic Syrup (simple syrup) to iced tea and iced coffee. Every store is supposed to do this. If customers want their beverages unsweetened they have to specify that when they order. It wouldn’t be a big deal if every store made their drinks to standard so customers would know what to expect. But, like fert said, we never hesitate to make the drink the way you want it.

Oh, also, if a barista asks if you want it sweetened or not, they’re just trying to be helpful and avoid wasting a drink. Some managers prefer that the baristas don’t ask, because adding Classic Syrup is standard. Like, we don’t ask if you want whipped cream on top of your mocha, because it’s supposed to come with whip.

I work for Starbucks (I know, it’s kind of evil) and when you say “lightly” sweetens you should know that it is the “Classic” syrup that is used and it contains somewhere around 20 calories per pump. A tall iced coffee comes with four pumps (80 calories and so much sugar you can’t imagine). It’s the same way with the iced teas. It is standard so a lot of barista’s are told not to ask but I always do since I think coffee is coffee.

I know! I was totally shocked when I ordered the brewed ice coffee or whatever they call it, and it was all sweet! Hello, brewed ice coffee should be just that! The next time I asked for no sweetener, and I swear they added water or something, because the coffee tasted like it was hot coffee with a bunch of ice cubes thrown in (i.e., diluted and watery). Oh well, as far as burdens go, this is one I think I can handle. Happy coffee drinking!

I was a former Barista…There are so many great standards that are followed but sometimes there are new people training or just lazy people and that is why your iced coffee was sweetened or not sweetened or watery!! As far as the company goes, I am so glad they are cutting their losses and reorganizing in order to keep the company strong.

Starbucks has a link on their website for customer comments and suggestions. It’s a good place to voice your concerns about how you prefer your iced coffee and iced tea. In the meantime, getting your beverages unsweetened is as easy as letting your barista know.

I believe that if a coffee or tea is going to be sweetened automatically by default, it should be clearly stated on the menu. I’m diabetic – and having sugar in my coffee without knowing it was there can cause my blood sugar to spike! If it’s their policy to sweeten their drinks, that’s fine. But let us know, so those of us who need to keep an eye on our sugar will know we need to specify that we’d like it unsweetened!

Most of the starbucks around here ask, but occasionally it seems like they don’t and I’ll forget. The worst is that sometimes I don’t taste before adding spenda and then it is really hard to tell if it was sweetened or not before.

The first time I got Sbux Passionfruit Iced Tea it was soooo delicious, but the second time I was asked “sweetened or unsweetened”? Requested un-, assuming that I wouldn’t have gotten sweetener without my consent. But no! The default had been sweet. Almost every other time, though, I’ve been asked for my preference.

Also, @michele, a friend of mine had a big issue with “regular” coffee when he moved from Texas to NYC. “Regular” sounds so innocuous, it took him forever to figure out how to get unflavored, uncreamed, unsweetened coffee!

I haven’t had “real” iced tea since I moved to Canada. Growing up in Colorado our norm was sun tea (tea brewed w/ the heat of the sun) poured over ice. Here, the only version of iced tea I’ve seen is Nestea in a can. For coffee, it’s a Starbucks americano every time (iced or not – yum!). And it’s never sweet, by the way.

Hmm Thanks for the tip. I typically get my iced coffee with vanilla syrup added, so i never realized that it usually came sweetened.
With the iced tea I’ve gotten used to asking for half the sweetener.

Oh, and all of Mcdonalds iced coffees are sweetened too. Not that you would go to McDonalds, but I’ve got a 6 year old and the play place is a godsend on a rainy day.

Yes, I had the same experience where I got it at the drive through, noticed the sweetness, but thought it was my imagination. The next time I ordered an iced coffee I forgot to specify unsweetened, and what they gave me was definitely sweetened. I asked the guy if it had sugar in it, and he said no!

Further, I don’t want their iced coffee “mix”, I just want them to take the coffee and put it over ice, done. They always seem so surprised when I am emphatic about that.

My mom went to a Braum’s (in the south) to get a milkshake, and was asked if she wanted the simple syrup in it. We were all horrified to find they had been ADDING SUGAR to a friggin milkshake all these years. bleah.

In Manhattan, Starbucks now posts the calories in both food and drink—my regular summer drink is an iced Americano, but I was thinking about taking the quick way one day until I saw the iced coffee was listed at 90 (!) calories. I asked and the barista couldn’t understand why I was even wondering. This explains a lot!

Working as a barista, I’ve gotten a lot of people lately that really emphasize the fact that they want their iced tea unsweetened and i was thinking it was odd, but i guess now i know why they feel they have to emphasize it. we do have a smaller fraction of people who are disappointed that we don’t have a simple syrup to add to the drink and that they have to try to get sugar to dissolve or choose a flavor. guess you can’t please everyone.

Bleh. I have only ordered iced coffee once from Starbucks, and hated it because it WASN’T sweetened, or maybe just not sweetened enough. I had to add sugar and stuff to it, and adding sugar to a cold drink is pretty much impossible. I never knew there was another option.

I recently had my first ever Starbucks coffee in Berlin, Germany and ordered an iced coffee. I was surprised to get just that, icy cold unsweetened coffee. In the Netherlands the current hype is a smooth frappucino whith milk and sugar. I decided that I like the Starbucks coffee but for all I care they can keep their milk and sweeteners and syrups. Just strong black coffee for me please!

Up here (in Canada) iced tea is always sweet. So when I’m south of the border and ask for iced tea I always assume it will be too. Then I take a sip and make a face when I realize its not. Its funny how the whole sweet vs unsweet iced tea depends on where you’re from.

Also, I can understand wanting sugar in one’s coffee… but as the default? No. Just no. This is wrong. Some may say it’s not an issue with “right” and “wrong” and usually with most issues I agree… Right and Wrong are ideas about things we make up in our heads. But this? This definitely is black and white and I’m fully comfortable being a fascist about it.

YES!!!!
I was searching for iced-coffee photos when I found this and I am right with you. I have had several times when I’ve gotten STUCK with a nasty, overly-sweetened iced-coffee to which I cannot even begin to drink. What a waste!

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Hi, I'm Megan. I live in Seattle with Scott. I make stuff and give you tutorials on how to make it too. I also keep a blog of what I'm up to and links to good stuff from all over.